7.14.10 Alpacas to Gros Morne NP

Norris Point Travel Blog

We left our lovely StephenvilleAirport site this morning for the Port au PortPeninsula.Following Evelyn’s excellent lead, we saw the Our Lady of Mercy Historic Church, the largest wooden church structure in Newfoundland.The interior is all done in gorgeous wood- lovely!We were the first visitors of the day, which I thought interesting given it was near noon.

We also saw adorable Alpacas of Newfoundland in nearby Felix Cove.For $1 the kids fed them bags of food.Great fun!

We drove to beautiful Gros Morne National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due to the dramatic mountains and fiords caused by plate tectonics “and the process of continental drift.

Our Lady of Mercy Historic Church

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The drive here was really beautiful!Newfoundland is gorgeous!It reminds me somewhat of Hawaii with the mountains and lush growth, lots of forests too.

Guess who we passed on the road near Gros Morne NP??Evelyn and Steve in their RV named Tulip!!We whipped around and chased them, but they got away. Shucks!I’ll be quicker next time. J

We stopped at the Gros Morne NP Visitor’s Center, made reservations for the Western Brook Tour tomorrow morning, and got Ranger advice for the park.

Then we drove to dinner in Harbor Cove, a small town that is not considered part of the surrounding Gros Morne NP, and therefore does not require the $20 family daily fee.

Lovely scenery on the way to Gros Morne National Park

For dinner Charles had a moose burger, Lia the seafood chowder.I had Fish & Brewis, which is a traditional Newfoundland dish on our scavenger hunt.It is a dish of cod, hard bread that has been soaked overnight, mashed potatoes and fried chunks of pork fat which you mix all together and then drizzle in molasses.No kidding, I feel sick from eating it all!It was really good, but I probably won’t eat fried pork fat again.

There is a Gros Morne KOA Campground practically beside the Visitor’s Center.It is within the NP limits, which requires a daily park pass plus camp fees.Then there is a Gros Morne RV Campground that appears only in RockyHarbor.

And just across the street from them is a big open gravel lot, surrounded by wildflowers and then trees, which appears to be a free parking lot.Our RV neighbor, in fact, appears to have a wooden walkway and flower pots out!We suspect it is fine to overnight here.It is certainly peaceful for the price!